Assessment of laser-induced thermal load on silicon nanostructures based on ion desorption yields

Experimental assessment of the thermal load induced by fast laser pulses on micro- and nanostructures through IR imaging is currently too slow and lacks the spatial resolution to be useful. In this paper, we introduce a method based on measuring the laser-induced yields of ions to compare the thermal loads on nanofabricated silicon structures, when exposed to nanosecond laser pulses. The laser fluences at which the ion yields of, for example, sodiated and potassiated peptides ions are equal for two different structures correspond to equivalent thermal loads. Using alkalinated peptides is a convenient choice because the corresponding ion intensities are easily measured up to the melting point of silicon. As an example, we compare the nanosecond laser heating of silicon nanopost arrays with diverse post diameters and periodicities. Assessment of the thermal load through ion yield measurements can also be used to verify model assumptions for heat transport regimes in nanostructures.     

An integrated portable Raman sensor with nanofabricated gold bowtie array substrates for energetics detection

An integrated field-portable surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing system has been developed and evaluated for quantitative analysis of energetics such as perchlorate (ClO(4)(-)) and trinitrotoluene (TNT) at environmentally relevant concentrations and conditions. The detection system consists of a portable Raman spectrometer equipped with an optical fiber probe that is coupled with novel elevated gold bowtie nanostructural arrays as a sensitive and reproducible SERS substrate. Using the standard addition technique, we show that ClO(4)(-) and TNT can be quantified at concentrations as low as 0.66 mg L(-1) (or ~6.6 μM) and 0.20 mg L(-1) (~0.9 μM), respectively, in groundwater samples collected from selected military sites. This research represents the first step toward the development of a field SERS sensor which may permit rapid, in situ screening and analysis for various applications including national security, chemical, biological and environmental detection.     

Analytical gradients of a state average MCSCF state and a state average diagnostic

An efficient method for calculating the Lagrange multipliers and the analytical gradients of one state included in a state average MCSCF wave function is presented. It is demonstrated that the state average energy of an ‘equal-weight’ scheme is invariant to rotations within the state average subspace and that the corresponding rotations should be eliminated from the Lagrangian equations. Finally, a diagnostic is presented, which gauges the energy difference between a state defined by a state average calculation and the corresponding fully variational multi-configurational SCF state.     

Single- and two-phase flow in microfluidic porous media analogs based on Voronoi tessellation

The objective of this study was to create a microfluidic model of complex porous media for studying single and multiphase flows. Most experimental porous media models consist of periodic geometries that lend themselves to comparison with well-developed theoretical predictions. However, many real porous media such as geological formations and biological tissues contain a degree of randomness and complexity at certain length scales that is not adequately represented in periodic geometries. To design an experimental tool to study these complex geometries, we created microfluidic models of random homogeneous and heterogeneous networks based on Voronoi tessellations. These networks consisted of approximately 600 grains separated by a highly connected network of channels with an overall porosity of 0.11-0.20. We found that introducing heterogeneities in the form of large cavities within the network changed the permeability in a way that cannot be predicted by the classical porosity-permeability relationship known as the Kozeny equation. The values of permeability found in experiments were in excellent agreement with those calculated from three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann simulations. In two-phase flow experiments of oil displacement with water we found that the wettability of channel walls determined the pattern of water invasion, while the network topology determined the residual oil saturation. The presence of cavities increased the microscopic sweeping efficiency in water-oil displacement. These results suggest that complex network topologies lead to fluid flow behavior that is difficult to predict based solely on porosity. The novelty of this approach is a unique geometry generation algorithm coupled with microfabrication techniques to produce pore scale models of stochastic homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. The ability to perform and visualize multiphase flow experiments within these geometries will be useful in measuring the mechanism(s) of displacement within micro- and nanoscale pores.     

ChemInform Abstract: X-Ray Structural Studies of the Polymorphic Elpasolites K2LiAlF6 and Rb2LiGaF6.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.     

Structure and morphology of the reaction fronts during the formation of MgAl2O4 thin films by solid state reaction between R-cut sapphire substrates and MgO films

The thin-film spinel-forming solid state reaction between Al₂O₃ and MgO has been studied under initially non-coherent conditions. MgO films in (001) orientation on -cut sapphire single crystals were heated at 1100°C for 30 min or 1h. The film/substrate reaction proceeds via cation counterdiffusion as was revealed by a marker experiment. The MgAl₂O₄ films formed were predominantly (001) oriented, with an additional systematic tilt of about 5° of the spinel lattice around the [010] axis. The structure of the Al₂O₃ /MgAl₂O₄(001) and MgAl₂O₄(001)/MgO(001) reaction fronts has been investigated on cross section samples by high-resolution electron microscopy. It appeared that after starting from an incoherent interface, the Al₂O₃ /MgAl₂O₄(001) front assumes an almost fully coherent structure during the reaction. As a result the lattice misfit is reduced to 1%, and interfacial ledges are formed. The latter most probably play an active role in the necessary c.p.h. f.c.c. reconstruction of the oxygen sublattice. The MgAl₂O₄(001)/MgO(001) reaction front consists of coherent regions divided by misfit dislocations. During the reaction the former run ahead whereas the latter lag behind. As a result the morphology of the reaction front is bowed. The results confirm earlier observations of Carter and Schmalzried of the semicoherent Al₂O₃(00.1)/CoAl₂O₄(111) interface, thus strongly supporting the conclusion of a fundamental new phase transformation mechanism specific to oxide systems.Presented at the workshop on High-Voltage and High-Resolution Electron Microscopy, February 21–24, 1994, Stuttgart, Germany.     

Optimal Recovery of the Derivative of Bounded Analytic Functions

Given (–1, 0), n N, we discuss the optimal recoveryof (), for analytic and bounded in < 1, from the knowledge of the values of at n points z1,.zm[0,l),where these points are chosen to produce the least possibleintrinsic error. The optimal algorithms are explicitly determined.